Project Hip-Hop Inc

Programs: The street theater team did its first year cycle. 8 youth participated in the team. They decided to focus on the juvenile justice system and what could be done to improve it. The youth studied about how the system is supposed to work and where it is not making the mark. They created 2 performance peices "shanice through the system" which chronicled the story of one young woman's journey from arrest to incarceration. They performed the piece for more than 875 people including at a conference in washington dc. They also created a piece called run dmc (disproportionate minority contact) about racial bias in the juvenile justice system.

the summer leadership institute served 12 youth artists. They were part of a 150 person new england delegation to the us social forum. They returned to boston to create a play about the war on drugs based on their person experiences and those of youth in cartegena, colombia with whom they were able to teleconference. They performed 20 min play for more than 800 people at community cookouts, homeless shelters, bus stations and summer camps.

gender-separate work - project hip-hop continued its work to support girls to be part of hip hop culture. In the spring there was a girlz and guyz cypher group which trained young women to do spoken word. 6 girls completed the program and created a group poem about the need for women's voices to be heard within hip hop culture. They guys explored issues of masculinity and how it becomes linked to agression and violence. During the summer there were inter-generational mentoring nights were women or men of all ages came together to participate in activities, eat a family-style dinner and hear about the career of one professional. Forty-five girls and 28 boys participated in these activities.